Knight of the Star League
by Baran3
Summary: NOW REVISED A freak incident overload a HPG on Terra. The pulse break through reality and catch a 2001 young girl in Japan. She reappear in the periphery in 3025. And now?
1. Prelude

**KNIGHT OF THE STAR LEAGUE**

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except Yoko Hachiman.

This is the story of another extra-dimensional exiled. Brought in the world of Batlletech Mechwarrior, she struggles to make a future for her and those she loves.

**PRELUDE**

We are in 3025 in what is called the Inner Sphere.

At the beginning of the 21° century, the basic buildings in science and politic that will lead to the era of the Succession wars were created or discovered. Reliable fusion engines were discovered for the early interplanetary travels, myomers fibers were researched by the medical community and the various states on Earth became the Terran Alliance. But more importantly two scientists, Thomas Kearny and Takayoshi Fuchida attacked the theoretical underpinnings of modern physics.

In 2102, humanity began the Exodus. Using a Faster-Than-Light engine invented on the basis of the Kearny-Fuchida theory, the Terran Alliance colonized the space around Earth. 1500 new planets are colonized on a sphere of 150 light years around Sol. The transit time of information catalyzed the breaking between the Terran Alliance and the colonies.

In 2314 the Terran Alliance collapsed and is replaced by the Hegemony, a hereditary leadership embodied in a single ruling family. The Cameron family began to rebuild the primacy of Earth. In the colonies, various states mirrored the Terran Hegemony and the beginning of the future Successor States appeared.

In 2398 the Age of War began with the Ares Conventions which ritualized the war in an almost continuous fact of life. The Hegemony remained remarkably pacifist even with the invention of the first BattleMech which revolutionned warfare.

In 2551 The Hegemony created with the 5 other states of the human Sphere, the Star league. Soon the Star League launched a war of unification against the worlds outside the Inner Sphere.

In 2601 the good years of the Star League began. It was a period of discoveries, prosperity and welfare. The Star League built a network of communications relay stations employing FTL transmitters known as Hyper-Pulse Generators (HPG).

In 2751, an accident left an 8 years old Richard Cameron as the sole heir of the Hegemony. Aleksandr Kerensky is elected as Regent and Protector. The Council Lords perceived themselves as the Star League's true authority and passed edicts to their benefices. Upon his reaching of age, Richard retaliated against the Council with only the support of Stefan Amaris. The regular army occupied with the Council armies, Stefan led a bloody coup on Terra and executed everyone of Cameron blood and declare himself First Lord of the Star League. Kerensky recaptured Terra and killed Amaris after a long bloody campaign where the Council Lords did nothing. The Council was incapable to elect a new First Lord as everyone wanted the seat. They managed to charge Jerome Blake to restore the HPG network and dissolved the Star League Council. They ordered Kerensky to divide his army among the armies of the Lords. Kerensky vanished beyond the Periphery with three quarters of the regular army.

In 2785 the First Succession War engulfed the Inner Sphere with unparallel brutality. After the Third Succession War, conflict became a fact of life. Due to the attrition of the two first wars, much knowledge has been lost. Some technologies became Black Technology and are irreplaceable by the present level of science. The Successor States began to cannibalize their destroyed war-machines to repair the intact ones. Some materials like FTL ships became untouchable and the old Ares Conventions are reinstated for the continuation of the war. The rise of feudalism enabled the Successor States to bypass the lack of administrative power and machinery. The pilots of the BattleMechs or MechWarriors became central to the existence of the Inner Sphere.

In 3025 a young girl from another Earth of 2001 is about to enter the fray.


	2. The pulse

**KNIGHT OF THE STAR LEAGUE**

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except Yoko Hachiman.

Notes: I intent to introduce psychic powers in this story along with the use of Robotech-type technology. There is transformable Mechs in Battletech and it is not a too long stretch to imagine psychic piloted transformable Mechas.

Name: Yoko Hachiman. Affiliation: periphery. Age: 16 years (75 points). Height: 1m55. Weight: 55 kg. Hair: black. Eyes: black.

History: Yoko Hachiman is born an only child in a modest samurai family of Tokyo. Her father worked as a specialized technician in an electronic factory and her mother stayed at home. Although not rich, they managed to give her a good education. Always capable to take of herself even in the wilderness, Yoko strives to repay her parents for their sacrifices and honor her ancestors by taking the familial Daisho as the last heir in her bloodline. She managed to obtain a bourse for her future career of technician discovering that she has a natural aptitude with machinery. Strangely she obtained this bourse because of her amazing work in mythology but beggars can't be difficult. During her early adolescence she caught the attention of the heir of an industrial empire and discovered her amazing talent in aircraft by flying his personal airplane during a date. Very bright student, she didn't neglect the social aspect of her education by entering a multitude of school-clubs and approaching the street life of her neighborhood with caution. She is now ready to enter college and decide to take a vacation in the wilderness in solo as a gift for herself. She disappeared without a trace.

Attributes (50 points): value/mod/max.

Strength: 4/0/8 (fair). Body: 5/0/8 (good). Dexterity: 7/-1/8 (remarkable).

Reflexes: 5/0/8 (good). Intelligence: 6/0/8 (advanced). Willpower: 6/0/8 (advanced).

Charisma: 6/0/9 (advanced). Edge: 8/-1/9 (excellent). Social Standing: 3/+1/9 (middle class).

Initiative: 5 + 2d10. Walk: 9 m. Run/evade/disengage: 19 m. Sprint: 38 m. Fatigue: 6.

Base target number: walking/standing (6), run/evade/sprinting/disengage (11), surprised (5).

Initial Traits: _poverty_ (-1 point, 100 C-bills), _natural aptitude_/technician (1 point+4 to link attributes for skill advancement) and _contact_ (1 point, lost because of the circumstances).

Traits (25 points) : _allergy_ (-1 point, to any milk-based products, violently ill and nauseous), _poorly equipped_ (-1 point, you comes from early 21° century earth), _ambidextrous_ (+2 points, can use both hand equally, no off hand penalty), _attractive_ (+1 point, -1 to -2 TN modifier in any CHA-related action checks), _animal empathy_ (+1 point, affinity with animals, bonus -2 with all actions checks about animals ), _brave_ (+1 point, TN reduced by 2 with shock and fear), _fast learner_ (+3 points+2 bonus to link attributes for skills), _fit _(+3 points+2 modifier with any skill roll with the body-reflexes-strength link attributes), _G-tolerance_ (+1 point, -2 TN modifier in high gravity), _good hearing_ (+1 point, -1 TN modifier all hearing-based perception checks), _good vision_ (+1 point, -2 TN modifier all vision-based perception checks), _natural aptitude_/piloting (+1 point+4 to link attributes for skill advancement), _night vision_ (+1 point, reduce TN modifiers by half with darkness), _pain resistance_ (+2 points, not stunned by grazing wounds and reduce the total TN modifier for all wounds by 1), _poison resistance_ (+1 point, resistant to poison, alcohol and intoxicants, -2 TN modifier to knockout checks, AV 2 versus incapacitating poisons and AV 1 versus lethal poisons), _proud heritage_ (+1 point, samurai family, only in Draconis Combine, -1 bonus in some situations), _sixth sense_ (+4 points, -3 TN perception check to detect surprise, gut feeling), _special item_ (+1 point, Daisho familial with katana and wakizashi) and _toughness_ (+2 points, the wound value of all wounds is reduced by 1).

Initial Skills : scrounge (bonus +1), survival (bonus +0), career/technician (bonus +0), interest/bushido (bonus +1), technician/ICE (bonus +1), first aid (bonus +0), academic/mythology (bonus +0), computers/operation (bonus +0), street-wise/periphery bonus +0), acting (bonus +0), art/painting (bonus +0), language/Japanese (native, bonus +3), language/English (secondary, bonus +2), language/Chinese Mandarin (bonus +0), martial art/aikido (bonus +0), piloting/aircraft (bonus +1), blades (bonus +0).

Equipment : her familial Daisho (1,2 kg), a medical kit (250 g), a basic field kit (backpack with one tent, a sleeping bag, a mattress, a lighter, an electric lamp, an emergency blanket, a knife, a canteen and two days of food, 5 kg), a cellular phone (do not function, no net-phone), some clothes (1 coat, 1 dress, some underwear, interior footwear, 1 pants, 1 running suit, 2 shirts, 1 short, 2 skirts and 1 sweatshirt), a personal music set (a walk-man, she will have a problem later with the battery), a bicycle (cross-country type), some print media (2 science-fiction novels), a leather vest (1.2 kg) and a pair of hiking leather boots (0.8 kg).

Money: 10 C-bills.

Armor:

Type A: leather vest. AV (M/B/E/X): 1/1/0/1.

Type C: leather boots. AV (M/B/E/X): 1/1/0/1.

Weapons: AP/Damage Type Range Shots Weight Notes

Katana: 1/2d6 melee none none 1 kg -1 TN.

Wakizachi: 1/1d6 melee none none 200 g -1 TN.

**Chap 1: The pulse.**

"_I have always wondered how Yoko came into being. I mean, it's obvious that she was a stranger, a foreigner. Even on Luthien, in full kimono, she would have been a "Gaijin". One night, I asked her point-blank where __she came from. She gazed at me with that 'Look'. You know the one that seemed to pierce your very soul. She smiled and then she said that she simply "fell into being". If only I could forget the impression that she was laughing her head off at me…"_

"_Memories from a warrior" 3050 by Ardan Sortek._

The mountain bike was eating the rough road like an ogre on a feast of babies. The long black-haired girl was laughing as she confronted her skill and endurance against the natural obstacles. She was almost the stereotypical Japanese beauty: Long and shining black hair, deep black eyes, almond eyes, delicate features and pale yellowish skin.

Yoko Hachiman was a 16 years old young girl and the only daughter of a modest Samurai family of Tokyo. She was due to enter college next term. She had worked very hard to obtain a bourse and her future career as technician was more and more in her reach. Without any incident and if she maintained her level of work, nothing could stop her to repay the sacrifices of her family for her education. She smiled as she remembered the pride of her father and her mother when she showed them the results of her final test.

This pride was the reason of her presence in the wilderness. She had decided to take her vacation in solo by roughing out a little with her bike. Those last days have been marvelous. She had visited farms, prayed in old temples, discovered out of the way hot springs and talked with old and gentle folks.

But the best was that she could test herself in the semi-hidden Dojos of the rural Japan. As the last of her bloodline, she had taken on herself to honor her ancestors and taken on the responsibility of her familial Daisho. She was a beginner of course but she could perceive the pleasure of the various Senseis encountered along her travel seeing a young modern girl acknowledging her inheritance.

She was accelerating to take a jump over a bump on the road when it happened. Her eyes widened as something deep inside her being screamed "DANGER!" into her mind.

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On Terra, original world of all humanity, a 'little problem' happened in one of the many stations responsible of sending information across the universe. From the reform by Jerome Blake, the network of Hyper-pulse Generators (HPG) had evolved into a powerful oligarchic society called Comstar. The HPG functioned on the same principle as the FTL ships of the Inner Sphere and enabled almost instant transfer of information at stellar range.

Strictly neutral they assured the diffusion of information across the whole Inner Sphere. With time rituals that were only window-dressing for the mass became dogmas. The average acolyte was sure that the HPG and many Black Technology machines couldn't function correctly without the proper incantations.

The 'little problem' was a surge in the primary circuits of the HPG in Japan. The only Acolyte present was terrified by what was happening and loose precious seconds before warning his superior. While the poor member of Comstar tried to explain what was happening to the Adept, the surge began to wreck the internal program of the Pulse-gun. The large machine pointed itself in the firmament and its capacitors quickly reached maximal charge and then finally overloaded.

The Kearny-Fuchida system of Faster-Than-Light technology was based on the opening of a rift between 'Normal Space' and 'Hyper Space'. The so-called 'Hyper Space' was another dimension that was very poorly understood by the scientists and so they ignored that it could be accessed by quite a big number of other dimensions. By a freak circumstance, Terra was in the same 'relative' position as the Earth of Yoko and the HPG generator was built exactly where the young girl was.

When the HPG overloaded, it had a result that no scientists could have even thought of. On the exterior it was just a nice pyrotechnic effect: A blue halo which burst to the infinity of space. A micro fraction of an instant before, the maelstrom of energy broke through 'Normal Space' and then ripped an overture in another foreign 'Normal Space' through 'Hyper Space'. With the speed of the thought the pulse of energy reached beyond the dimensional boundaries of the Battletech universe and seeped in another one on the same geographical area.

The energy caught in its bosom a young girl on a mountain bike. Normally, it wouldn't have any effect, but the young girl wasn't a normal girl. All of humanity had the potential of Psychic powers within its genes. By Fate or Destiny, Yoko Hachiman was one of those which had a more developed psychic sensibility than the average human. The HPG pulse reacted with the latent psychic teenager by encapsulating her within the energy matrix. The polarity inversed by itself and the pulse regained its original dimension bringing within it the young earthling. Yoko Hachiman simply disappeared without any trace as she was jumping an obstacle on a rural road.

From its point of origin the uncontrolled energy discharge and its living cargo rode the still overloaded HPG Gun and were emitted into space via 'Hyper Space'. They reached an unprecedented distance due to the supplemental energy. The pulse could have hit matter anywhere in the vast space of the Inner Sphere but it hit a planet somewhere in the Periphery along the frontier of the Outworlds Alliance and the energy matrix destabilized, releasing its passenger.

From Yoko's perception the travel had been instantaneous. One second she was freaking in fear because of an abrupt sensation of danger and about to hit the road after his jump, the second after she was a few feet above a grassy trail somewhere else, still in terror. The fear and the sudden surprise made her fumbled her landing and she kissed the ground with a nice velocity. She was still stunned on the ground by what happened when it hit her.

A massive nausea submerged her with a major case of disorientation and she threw up her lunch on the grass as she felt her brain melting under a headache of nuclear proportion. After managing to recover her wits she looked around her.

_'Where on Earth I am now?'_

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Notes: A revised chapter. Better than the first draft.

The little annotation at the beginning came from many sources in various books. I have always found fascinating those little vignettes that showed a glimpse of the universe.

I read quite a few fan fictions about Battletech but none take into account the various sources of their imagery of the Battlemechs. I didn't want a crossover but I wanted to introduce all that contributed to create the Battletech Universe.


	3. Where the hell i am?

**KNIGHT OF THE STAR LEAGUE**

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except Yoko Hachiman.

Notes: I have revised my precedent chapters since many readers have signaled that they were rather cryptic or difficult to understand even for those who play Battletech.

The planet Butterfly is inspired from "Turn A Gundam".

**Chap 2: Where the hell I am?**

_It is now accepted that Yoko Hachiman wasn't born in the Draconis Combine or in the Japan islands on Terra. Although her phenotype was Japanese, her cultural flavor and her mannerisms indicated that she was probably born on a Periphery world, one with a heavily Asian background. The fact that some of her early battles were in the Outworlds Alliance is proof enough._

_Yoko Hachiman, Facts and Conjectures 3055._

Yoko Hachiman looked bewildered around her. How was this possible? One instant she was simply riding her bicycle on a dirt trail in a forest. The next, she was crashing on a grassy field surrounded by hills.

There was also the fact for the illogical terror she felt before the accident as everything in her mind was screaming "DANGER!". And, of course, the bout of nausea and massive headache right after her splendid landing.

The sixteen years old black-haired girl finally managed to stand up, brushed her clothes and examined herself and her cross-country bicycle. She sighed in relief that everything was in order.

She rapidly extracted her cellular phone from her pocket. She didn't know where she was and… She stopped herself and frowned as she looked the sun in the sky. She blinked and blinked again as she consulted her watch.

"What the hell?"

No, she wasn't dreaming. Her memory and her watch were saying to her that she was still in the morning when the accident happened, but the position of the sun completely contradicted her. It was visibly early afternoon. Another jarring detail was the weather. She was wearing her leather vest on her bicycle garments because of the cold wind that was blowing since yesterday. And now, she was forced to open her vest because she felt she was under a summer afternoon weather.

The trickle of anxiety in her stomach was now a full and rapid river. What in the name of God happened to her? Where was she? She almost wailed as she suddenly remark that her phone wasn't in a zone with a network available.

She forced herself to breathe deeply and focus on herself to find her centre. The meditation worked and the icy fingers of her fear evacuated her mind. She wasn't yet in a desperate situation. She had food, water, equipment and transportation and she was still healthy. She was only…lost.

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Her bicycle was really a gift of Heaven. She could travel a long way before required rest. Not knowing where to go, she decided to follow her intuition and ride in direction of the South. She smiled as the sun began to set in as she finally remarked the silver iridescence of a brook in the green grass.

As she built a small fire and readied herself for the night, she tried again her cell-phone for the same result than before: Still no network available. She sighed as she contemplated the stars in the night-sky and began to slowly drift into sleep in her sleeping bag: the tent was not required since the weather was so perfect.

One stray thought brought her to full awareness again: SHE COULDN'T RECOGNIZE ANY CONSTELLATIONS! She must have stayed a long time, gaping at the unknown skies as exhaustion finally remind her that she needed rest and she managed to sleep despite the growing sensation of being completely lost.

The day after the last discovery had been without problems except for the presence of Earth animals, something that reassured her, that were sometimes aggressive. She gulped as she remarked snakes that were probably poisonous and she defended herself against a feral dog with her katana.

That last encounter assured her that civilization was nearby since dogs were a sure sign of the presence of humans.

It was in the afternoon of her second day since her arrival that she witnessed another sign of civilization and a strange one at that. She stopped her bicycle and gaped as she was seeing an actual BLIMP of all things!

It was a standard blimp, zeppelin-like with an orange-yellow coloration, a wooden passenger-cabin and it was motorized by four ICE-propellers: The sure sign of industrialized civilization. She had a doubt before, because of the amazing pure quality of the air. She frowned as this was perhaps the sign that she was in the Past. She was too far away to distinguish the signs on the blimp, but she was sure that it was a white bird near a fire-colored sphere.

She smiled as her intuition was vindicated. According to the direction taken by the blimp, she was on a direct course for a town or something. In fact, she exploded in joy at what she found after the next hill: A road!

Yes, it was really a road and with asphalt on it. Not a dirt road but the sure sign that cars or other means of ICE-based vehicles were used where she was. The only thing that troubled her was the absence of any signs on the road and the non-existent traffic. The road showed signs of wear but for four hours she encountered no vehicles.

And then, she began to ride along cultivated fields of wheat and softly cried in joy. She was still lost somewhere but she was still within a human realm. Her heart was accelerating as she saw machinery and people working in some fields. She preferred to wait for others signs of civilization before attempting a contact with the locals. She stopped between two hills and grinned as she distinguished a town at the horizon.

She rode with energy, eager to finally assess her situation. It was when she was nearing a bridge that she felt something.

It was a burst of emotions. The more curious was the fact that she was sure that those emotions weren't hers but someone else. Someone…in distress…nearby…

"SISTER!"

The scream erupted from the banks of the river. She braked and jumped from her bicycle to see what was happening. Her eyes widened: A young girl, probably of the same age of her was running along the river, completely nude…

She was tall with long golden hair and was desperately signing to… HELL! Within the embrace of the rapid current of the river was another girl, also nude, younger and with short brown hair. She was also clearly in difficulty and was fighting to maintain her head out of the water.

Yoko didn't even hesitate or think although she wasn't that good as a swimmer. She promptly kicked off her sport-shoes and jumped directly from the bridge. As she touched the surface of the water, something seemed to ignite within her core-being. She found herself swimming with incredible ease despite the strong current. It was as if something was helping her to glide through the water.

In a few moments, she reached the now tired teenager and grasped her. "Don't panic! I'm here to help you! Try to relax!" She absently asked herself why she was using English instead of her native Japanese. Probably because the other girl had called to her sibling in English.

Unfortunately, the brown-haired girl was on the verge of panic and was struggling within the arms of Yoko as she tried to maintain the two of them at the surface. Once again something seemed to click into place within the mind of the displaced Japanese. "**Calm yourself!**" And this time, she sighed in relief as the girl stopped struggling instantly.

Despite her inexperience, Yoko knew that it was useless to fight against the current. She simply began to aim for the nearest river bank and used the water to help her. She reached the shore and this time, she felt her exhaustion like a switch was on. It was curious since, from the beginning of the rescue, her muscles have been heavily solicited without complain.

She shook her head and focused on the person with her. She was a young teenager, perhaps two years younger than her, with a bob cut of brown hair and chocolate eyes that were glazed. Yoko frowned as she assessed that the young girl was still in shock from her brush with drowning.

"Sister?" The young girl turned to the sound of the voice and looked into the blue eyes of the golden-haired girl. She hiccupped, threw herself into the open arms and began to sob within the embrace.

Yoko nodded. It was good that she was crying. The shock had passed, now she could regain her composure, especially with her older sibling. She noted the freshness of the water and quickly ran to her bicycle to extract her towel from her backpack. She returned to the two sisters and began to help them.

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Yoko Hachiman was smiling. Things were looking better for her now. She had helped the two girls to gather their clothes after the accident and they were now walking along a secondary road to, according her guides, the house of their family. Yoko had absently noted that the two summer dresses of the girls looked like western dresses of the Twenties era.

They were, in fact, chatting happily as if they have been friends since always. The long-haired girl was called Kihel Heim and her younger sister Sochie. They were the only two daughters of the current mayor of the nearby small town of Nocis. They knew how to swim, but Sochie had been surprised by an unexpected strong current and taken away before her older sister could take action.

The two girls were enchanted to meet Yoko. They had commented on the rich apparel she wore and the sophistication of her bicycle. Yoko had quickly taken on herself to tell the truth whenever she could. She had truthfully told them that she was on a journey and that most of her equipment was a gift from her parents. Apparently, it was common in this society that young people quit their hometowns and learned their trade in other parts of the world.

At last, she had a name for where she was: Butterfly. She had managed to hide her dismay at the confirmation that she was nowhere a place she knew. Another planet! It was something from a manga where the young schoolgirl found herself in another universe.

The mayor of Nocis was a jovial man that welcomed her with open arms. Especially when he learnt about the accident and the help that Yoko had given to his daughters. His wife, a strong woman named Alea Heim, began in fact to dot on the displaced Japanese.

As the evening went, Yoko found herself in a guestroom, Alea Heim having forcefully declared that she couldn't let her go like that. A hostel room or sleeping in the open? By the Omniss, young girl! Her ancestors would never forgive her if she didn't repay the life-debt.

Yoko fell on her bed and gazed on the ceiling. So many things and yet not enough. She now knew that she was on the planet "Butterfly" on the extreme border of the "Outworlds Alliance". The Alliance was a political body of 40 stellar systems somewhere in "The Periphery", whatever the last term meant. The society of was mainly agrarian with a few big towns where technology was more present and only one spaceport. Apparently the Omniss faith, embraced by a good portion of the Alliance and almost anybody on Butterfly, denounced any technology not related to the preservation of human life.

But the kick in the butt was the date. According to a newspaper she was in…3025! Either she was in another universe where Man had learnt to travel among the stars or she was in her own future. And of course, she couldn't ask too many questions or her hosts would begin to suspect something.

Tears began to drip from her eyes as the enormity of the situation finally crashed on Yoko Hachiman. She was lost: Completely and utterly lost. She had no clues about the how or why of her situation. She was bereft of the simple presence and support of her family, with almost no resources except the few things she had with her and the gentle help of the Heim family.

She angrily stood up and looked on the tranquil scenery outside the window. If she didn't know better, she could almost swear that she was in a rural place in the early 20th Century. The final nail on her coffin was the absence of any moons in the sky.

In the obscurity of her room, a metallic éclat reached her eyes. She slowly drew her katana. The antic weapon was her inheritance. She was the last of the modest bloodline of the Hachiman Samurai. In fact, the Daisho was the only proof that she was the last and only Hachiman in this universe.

The blade seemed to drink the light of the stars and shimmered under the gaze of its mistress. She blinked. Something, perhaps her intuition, was whispering to her soul and soothing her heart. For an instant, it seemed that the blade was promising her that it will be better in the future. IF, she was willing to pay the price. After all, the katana was a weapon: the soul of the Samurai but also a tool for war.

It had also been a note of interest to see that the significance of the Daisho was known in this society. The mayor had commented on the dedication of the Japanese teenager to "proudly continue the honorable work" of her ancestors.

She slowly sheathed the ancient blade and prepared herself to sleep: Tomorrow was another day.

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Notes: It's slow and I seem to have some difficulty to write after my forced period of dayshift.

Oh well, at least I am writing. I am a little disappointed in myself for I could have developed more the various scenes of this chapter.

Oh well, nonetheless I am slowly building the setup for the action-packing, angst-powering and mighty powers of the futures chapters, right?

Read and review, thank you.

PS: I have just finished the sheet of the future battlemech of Yoko. Oh my god! She's going to kick butt with it! And I have respected the rules! Just one clue for now: Star League technology.


	4. The calm before the storm

**KNIGHT OF THE STAR LEAGUE**

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except Yoko Hachiman.

Notes: Why choose the setup of the beginning of "Turn A Gundam"? Because it's a perfect example of the situation prior to the Fourth Succession War. Most planets have a technological level equal or less than Earth 20th Century. And suddenly, mighty war machines in the form of giant humanoid robots appeared and waged war.

**Chap 3: The calm before the storm.**

"_The first time I realized that I was completely cut off of everything I knew, I broke down. Yes, I know that everyone speak of the "unshakable Silver Lady" but everyone seem to forget that I was and I am still human first."_

_Extract from a letter__ of Yoko Hachiman to Melissa Steiner._

Yoko Hachiman grunted as the G-forces tried to press down her lithe body in the cockpit seat. The other pilot had a very good machine indeed, but better material didn't always mean better skill.

Her biplane climbed into a Himmelman maneuver and slipped behind the monoplane. Her adversary piloted an experimental plane with mono-wings, forward canard wings and the propeller was situated at the back, making the front of the plane free for the spinal weaponry.

She aligned the gun-sight and then swore as the pilot used the only advantage left: his plane had a better motor and he simply cranked up the speed to escape her attack. A flash of colored light caught her attention: a red flare had been launched from the ground.

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The black-eyed Japanese girl finished to park the Militia biplane in the hangar of Nocis Airport. She liberated her long black mane of hair from the constraint of her leather helmet and sighed in relief. She smiled as mechanics and militaries waved to the other plane parking near her.

Ernest Kaplan was a very successful engineer that was finalizing the last touches on his radical design for the new Militia fighter plane. Through the Heim family, he had recruited the help of Yoko Hachiman, because she was simply one of the best aircraft pilots around here.

He was also very determined to test out all his creations to the dismay of his daughter who was supposed to be the test pilot. The tanned blonde girl was now tearing a long strip of the back of her father under the teasing of the people present.

Eileen Kaplan threw up her hands in frustration and turned to Yoko. "So? What do you think of our "Ugly Duck"?"

"An excellent concept: Better weapons, improved maneuverability and armor, a more powerful motor and so a better payload and speed." She smirked. "It just needs a proper pilot to change into a beautiful swan."

The girl frowned as the spectators laughed at the gentle jab. "HEY! Blame that on Pops." She turned to the locker room muttering. "Not my fault he is so stubborn…"

As she began to change in the locker room, Yoko reflected on the past. It had been now one full year since her arrival on Butterfly and what a year. She had managed to fight out the depression brought out by being stranded in another universe with the help of the two Heim daughters. Her two friends had assumed that it had been a case of severe homesickness. She shook her head. If only they knew…

After that, she had simply relied on her education. She quickly found out that she had an equal, and in many cases, a superior education to most of the inhabitants of the planet who after high school relied on apprenticeship to carry on the knowledge. That reinforced her image to be the only daughter from a former wealthy Samurai family that originated from the Draconis Combine.

She internally groaned at that thought. The first months, she had simply eaten up every scrap of book she could obtain in order to know about this planet and this universe: Five great interstellar realms locked into constant warfare for centuries since the end of the golden age of the Star League. Wars spearheaded by giant robots as if they were into a Gundam show. A feudal culture that was based on the fabled MechWarrior, who was the only one who could pilot the mighty Battlemechs. The loss of almost any advanced technologies which forced everyone to rely on older tech and cannibalized their destroyed machines to obtain spare parts and maintained other machines to continue the war or simply to survive. Her carbon-fiber cross-country bicycle was regarded as almost Lost Tech.

It was especially the enormity of the Inner Sphere that baffled the displaced Japanese. She was now located spinward at approximately 700 light years from Terra between the Federated Suns and the Draconis Combine. Butterfly was a lone planet in an obscure stellar system that was really glad to be forgotten by the neighboring Outworlds Alliance and the rest of the universe. Such a planet with sufficient mineral resources and ample water supply were treasures among the stars for human settlements.

It had been decades since the last merchant dropship landed at the spaceport of Bostonia, the capital implanted on the coast. The current government was quite happy to let things as they were since everybody was content. Another perplexing thing about this universe was the almost feudal-type of government everywhere. Butterfly was a conglomerate of four separate kingdoms under the leadership of an emperor. First, there was the empire of Bostonia on the western continent that controlled the spaceport and most of the rich arable lands. The people there were a melting pot of all races and commerce bloomed due to a big merchant blimp fleet.

Then two rival kingdoms disputed themselves the Eastern continent: Kaze and Borjarnon. Both were more military oriented with a very strong Asian feature with Kaze which she used as her home-kingdom. Borjarnon was more known for its strong armored vehicles branch. A state of cold war seemed to constantly exist between the two kingdoms.

Finally, the ocean between the two main continents was festooned by myriads of small islands that support the striving kingdom of Merindia. The society here was based on a nomad culture that lived primarily in their ships.

After learning how difficult and expensive it was to travel among the stars, Yoko had resigned herself to build her life on Butterfly. She smiled. Well, resigned wasn't quite the term here. She had rapidly fall in love with the people here and she was now considered as a valuable member of the society.

The apprenticeship-type of education and the 'whole-family-participate' type of work called strongly to the young girl who had wanted nothing than work hard for all the sacrifices her family had done for her future. Even if she was separated from them she could honor her parents by proving her worth.

It had been a good surprise but a surprise nonetheless to discover how easily she had learnt absolutely everything her mentors could teach. With the Heim family, she had learnt how to work in a farm without all the modern appliances of her native Earth: getting up with the sun, nourishing the livestock, helping in the harvest and haggling for a good price on the market.

Being proud to know that the bread and butter of the breakfast were here because you milked the cows and ground the wheat, feeling the wind on your face as you ride a horse in the green hills, swimming in the river which would furnish your lunch in the form of fresh fish or cooking for those you loved.

In fact, her life was axed on three main activities: She lived on the Heim land and was almost considered as family by them and she repaid her hosts by working on their lands. She had been taken in apprenticeship by the Kaplan family of engineers and was on the path to being their most gifted student and finally, she had used her knowledge of piloting to help the agrarian community of Nocis by being an accomplished crop-duster and helped to maintain the small fleet of planes.

Yes, it was a good life.

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She was currently driving the family car of the Heim into Nocis. Alea Heim was preparing her daughters for the summer party at Bostonia castle and requested Yoko to serve as a private driver for them. That meant new dresses, jewelry and much more many things to buy, prepare and so on. In the back seat, Sochie was frowning at the coming hassle of doing all this.

The brown-haired girl was a veritable tomboy and disliked being prettied. She was especially irritated by the boys that were surely going to pester her and her sister at the party. At her side, her older sister Kihel was quietly giggling at the pout of her sibling. She had a quiet inner strength that her mother lacked and while she also wanted to take her future into her own hands, she was still behaving like a high-noble lady.

The big car passed several sport cars, stopped at a railway bridge to let pass a train that remind Yoko of the Orient-Express and entered the town of Nocis with its white one or two-story houses.

The Japanese was feeling a little guilty to have left Eileen alone to begin the formation of the Militia pilots for the new "Ugly Duck" planes. But she knew the blond girl was headstrong and she had met the Colonel responsible of the future Militia air-squadron. She 'knew' that the powerful-built brown-bearded man will be a good officer and would have no problem working with the Kaplan family.

It had been, in fact, something curious: since her arrival, she was more and more relaying on her 'gut feelings' than before. Many things were downright almost precognitions of some sort, especially in her recent bout of apprenticeship. For example, she could almost always tell who was behind a door before the person announced herself and her mentors were sometimes taken aback when she showed knowledge of things she didn't know before. She didn't count the number of times she had been able to discern the emotional state of her interlocutor. And recently, for having testing it in mock aerial battles, she had discovered that she really had a 'sixth sense'. Her spatial awareness was almost frighteningly clear in details and range, as if she had a tri-dimensional radar in the head.

She shook her head and concentrated on her driving as they entered Bostonia. The city counted some sky-scrappers and electric tramways among the white residential houses and the green merchant quarters. Yoko had the impression to enter the old city of Tokyo at the beginning of the Meiji era. It was a blend of modernism and traditional. The ICE-powered cars functioned alongside electric-powered vehicles and horse-tracked chariots. A fusion-powered electric central, the only one of the continent, gave energy to the capital as opposed to the smaller towns which used solar and hydroelectric energy. In fact, even the ICE-motors here used alcohol instead of an oil-derivative.

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Sochie sighed, face in her hands, as she waited in the car with Yoko. The black-haired girl lifted an eyebrow. "You could have gone with your sister you know."

The chocolate-eyed girl snorted. "I'm not that good to choose new jewelry for party." She looked to her older sister through the storefront. "Beside, I don't like the style of this shop."

Yoko shrugged. "Well, I've always find Kihel's taste to be very good."

Sochie turned half-lidded eyes to her. "You would. You let Mother or Sister dresses you every time we have a party." She muttered under her breath. "In fact, you always praise Sister."

Yoko chuckled. "You must admit that although I prefer to dress into practical clothes like you, being prettied once a few times is a good thing, especially by someone as good-looking as your sister."

Sochie sighed again. It was rather irritating to find that the Asian girl was as much as a tomboy like her and still gladly accepted the help of her older sibling in regard to fashion and social tips. Kihel was the heir of their father and was educated in that sense. She felt rather lucky to not being forced in that cramped role although she suspected her sister to be more ambitious than simply taking the wake of her father.

"By the way, Sochie. Do you two still want me to drive you to your college this week?"

Sochie blinked at the change of subject. "Yes, why?"

Yoko nodded to herself. "Well, it's just that I have a few things to do at the capital. I might be a little late at picking you, but…"

Sochie leaned to Yoko. "Oh? Your mysterious dates in the capital, right?" She smirked. "So, who is the chosen one? Is he handsome? Rich?"

Yoko blinked, pulled out of her thoughts. "Nanni…?" She reddened. "No! It's not that! I told you before…"

The two girls finished in stereo. "…I don't like boys like that!" Sochie dissolved into giggling as Yoko scowled and crossed her arms. It was something curious for her that the beautiful black-haired young girl refused any suitors that came to her. Even her mother had tried to present some boys and young men to her only to bump into a steel wall.

Sochie sighed mentally. She was somewhat envious of the freedom of the seventeen years old girl: She could find work she likes and she could choose her future husband. She was also a peer: The Daisho she wore sometimes was proof enough. Tarnished and small nobility probably but still noble.

Yoko finally relented. "All right, you can come with me next Friday…"

This perked up the brown-haired girl. "Really!"

"Yes, really. I will present you…" Yoko had a little smile dancing on her lips and her black eyes shone with a mischievous light. "…to the man I found."

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Sochie was waiting with impatience that her private lesson was finished. She was feeling very lucky that she didn't have to take so many lessons like her sister. Right now, Kihel was probably torturing some poor ears during her musical lesson.

As soon as the bell was heard, she was already outside. Her teacher asked himself if the young girl had a micro Kearny-Fuchida Jumpdrive to be able to teleport like that.

As she ran, Sochie was curious about the place she had to go to meet, at last, the paramour of her friend. "Really now. Why choosing such a secluded park?" She smirked. "She wants perhaps a chaperone to control her boyfriend." She giggled as she imaged the normally strong and level-headed girl shyly blushing as a featureless man took her in his arms to kiss her.

She entered a heavily wooden park. At such an hour, there was almost nobody on the trimmed and clean trails. She quickly found the fountain with a dolphin that Yoko had spoken about and entered the forest directly behind like the Asian had instructed her.

She finally found a small glade and smiled as she saw Yoko in the middle. She stopped and blinked as she considered how was clothed the young girl.

Yoko Hachiman was kneeling in 'seiza' position. She was clothed in a black hakama and a navy-blue keikogi. Two boken, one shorter than the other, were resting into her obi. She had her eyes closed and seemed to meditate tranquilly.

Before Sochie gathered her wits, a black blur suddenly materialized in the back of the kneeling girl. A scream leapt into the throat of the brown-haired girl as she saw a boken slashing at the head of her friend.

Yoko rolled on the right, dodging the deadly slash and drew her long boken in the same time as she jumped in standing position. Her eyes were still closed as she took a low guard position.

The black blur revealed itself to be a short Asian man of indeterminate age clad in a black kendo outfit with a boken in a middle guard position. He uttered a kiai that paralyzed Sochie where she was and charged Yoko like a lightning bolt. Sochie observed with awe as the two fighters exchanged dozens of strike that didn't seem to hit anything but air or hardened wood. And Yoko was still closing her eyes.

Suddenly, Yoko jumped back and drew her shorter boken in her left hand. She then charged her adversary and weaved a complex combo with her two weapons. The Asian man was unperturbed as he methodically blocked each strike with graceful minimal movements of his boken. It was as if the two had rehearsed the pattern of strikes beforehand.

Finally, Yoko overextended herself slightly and her left boken fly into the air on a flicker from the enemy's boken. She immediately jumped over the slash at her exposed belly and soared over the man in an amazing display of acrobatics.

For the first time during the duel, Yoko opened her eyes as she took a middle guard position. Sochie gasped as even from where she was, she was feeling the sheer intensity behind the black gaze. Her beautiful face had the tranquil and quiet unyielding strength of the granite, the sure and merciless silent glide of a glacier. It was as if she was screaming 'I AM DEATH!'

Before the fact registered in the brain of Sochie, Yoko was already jumping in the air at a fantastic height and bringing down her boken in an oblique cut to the man who was assuming a high guard position. "FIRE AND STONE CUT!"

The scene seemed to freeze as Yoko landed behind the Asian man, both boken extended after their mutual strike. She then promptly fall on her knee and winced as she pressed her right side. This decided Sochie who rushed to her calling her name.

The Asian man calmly turned around to face the two girls. Sochie was almost wailing in dismay as she considered the bruise blackening the skin on the right side of Yoko. "Well done, my student. Well done indeed!"

Sochie blinked and considered the man. "Student?"

Yoko chuckled as she managed to stand up with her help. "Sochie, permit me to present you Master Kenishiro Oyama of the Kashima Shinryu, my sensei. Sensei, allow me to present you my friend, Lady Sochie Heim of the Heim family."

The man bowed to the flabbergasted brown-haired girl. "It's an honor to meet you, my Lady."

Yoko shook her head. "I was damn sure that I nailed you this time, Sensei."

Kenishiro smirked. "You have." His boken suddenly exploded into splinters under the widening eyes of the Japanese girl.

Later on, the two friends ate a welcome ice cream in a café. Sochie considered the Japanese girl clad into a summer dress.

"So, this is what you were doing during all this time." Sochie sighed. "I should have known that it couldn't have been a boyfriend."

Yoko giggled. "Well, you were right on one point: I was meeting a man." She contemplated something at the horizon. "You know I met him entirely by pure luck and he wasn't very keen on taking me as student."

Sochie was skeptical. "Really?"

Yoko nodded. "Really. Master Oyama is a retired instructor from the Draconis Combine. He exiled himself here, apparently because of the shame brought by one of his students that abused of his art." She frowned. "It had been very difficult to finally make him accept my petition to be his student." She shook her head. "I don't have all the details, but the student has too much political power to be brought down. But…" Once again she gazed into nothingness. "Something tells me that I will face him on the field of honor, one day… One day…"

Sochie shook her head and continue to eat her frozen confection. "Yoko, you're really weird sometimes."

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Notes: it's not too bad for now. I have discovered that my forced vacation has actually degraded my skills in writing in English.

Oh well, I can only call on your indulgence.

I'm still waiting on comment on the story. I know there's still no Battlemechs but I appreciate any helpful comments.

Read and review, thanks.


	5. can mean only one thing: Invasion

**KNIGHT OF THE STAR LEAGUE**

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except Yoko Hachiman.

Notes: I have decided to take a beta reader, so thank you to Vampwriter. Hope my work will be better.

By the way, my muse is back, so I am slowly working again on my other fics, including "MS Seed Girls".

Be patient for a few weeks.

**Chap 4: "…can mean only one thing: Invasion."**

_"I am considered as the best of the best among the Inner Sphere. However, I have always been impressed by the skill of the 'Little Girl' (I.E: Yoko Hachiman's nickname among the Widows) especially when she is against pirate scum. I'm sure there is a very personal reason behind it: No one, not even me, can be that ruthless and merciless and yet manage to rescue the innocents caught or lost among piracy."_

_Natasha Kerensky in an interview given to Misha Auburn in 3037._

Sochie landed her Militia biplane in a perfect three points landing. Eileen ran to her friend as she cut off the engine. "Congratulations, Sochie! You did it! You fly solo!"

The brown-haired girl shrugged as she retired her helmet. "It was no big deal. I couldn't do less with you and Yoko forming me could I?"

Eileen chuckled, "True, but just between you and me, Yoko said that you have the 'gift'."

Sochie blinked and turned to the other biplane achieving its landing, "Really?"

The tanned blonde nodded, "Really. She's one of the best, but you're not that far away." She turned to Sochie, "Beside, she's hardly the only one who's doing weird things. You're a daughter of the Heim family and yet you want to be a pilot in the Militia," She shook her head, "That's really very special. All the Heim have been farmers so far."

Sochie giggled, "Well, it's because I have a friend whose father is building planes and another friend who can pilot them. And also, I am not the heir." Her eyes gazed on the horizon, "I don't want to be the wife of an official or a merchant. I want to fly with my own wings."

Eileen nodded as she examined the engine, "Just like our dear little Samurai."

Once finished with the examination the two girls went to change their pilot suits in the locker room and were back into summer dresses. Sochie sighed as she buttoned up her red-pink dress, "It's too bad for us that we had to attend the Summer Party at the castle the same time the Militia Parade is happening."

As she finished putting on her light blue dress, Yoko nodded, "Yes…" She shrugged, "There will be other parades…" She stopped herself and frowned, "I think…" For now a week, she had disturbing dreams: Dreams of fire and steel with snippets of dying screams and blood.

Eileen finished the last adjustments to the biplanes. "I wish I could be with you, but I must pilot an "Ugly Duck" in the parade."

Yoko turned to the warplane in the hangar. "Because your family conceived it and that you are one of the few pilots who can properly handle it."

Ernest Kaplan extracted himself from the forward compartment. "Well, it's true that I constructed the prototype, but the advisor of the Emperor, Sir Ralf, is the one who financed the mass production."

Yoko blinked. Why was she feeling suddenly so worried? "Huh? But retooling a factory for mass production takes a lot of money." _'Where did he find this kind of money? Bostonia is rich, but not rich enough to retool a factory in one month._'

Ernest sighed, "I wish we could still build machines like during the generation of my grandfather."

Yoko shrugged, "If you want to remain competitive in the industry sector, you have to use mass production techniques."

Ernest crossed his arms. "I don't care about money! I care in the pleasure of my work: The pride to look at a machine and to say with pride that every part of it has passed through my hands."

Yoko nodded as she retrieved her Daisho. "I can understand the feeling. My blades were born under the hands of someone like you."

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As she drove away from the airport, Yoko turned to Sochie, "Do you really want to join the Militia?"

Sochie firmly nodded, "Yes. I need to do something for myself. But why are you asking me? You are also joining it."

A shadow danced in the black eyes of the Japanese. "True. It seems sudden… Well it is sudden, but I feel that it is required." She lifted an eyebrow to the chocolate-eyed girl. "By the way, did you ask the permission to your father?"

Sochie winced then looked determined. "I decide on my own my own destiny."

They passed a convoy of military trucks and Sochie looked with envy. "Look, it's the troops for the parade."

Yoko blinked then frowned as she considered the great numbers of people and materials. She could see numerous platoons of foot and motorized infantry: Most were armed with rifles and machine-guns, but she could also see a few rare troops armed with SRM-launchers. The shoulder-mounted weapon was capable to fire two Short-Range-Missiles, or more exactly rockets as the so-called missile didn't have any kind of homing device.

Her eyes narrowed. There was actually too much troops for a simple parade. The infantry was accompanied by mobile artillery, triple-A guns, truck-mounted searchlights. She suddenly gasped. "Look Sochie! They even bring in some tanks!"

Sochie blinked as she remarked that among the armored personnel carriers she could see Scorpion light tanks, Hunter light support tanks, a few rare Vedette medium tanks and even some LRM and SRM carriers. "Why tanks? They can't use them in the parade, it would damage the streets."

Yoko continued with a small voice. "Yes… I also wonder why they find the need to bring THIS!"

Sochie turned to the direction pointed by Yoko and gasped. On the railway, a rail version of the Mobile Long Tom Artillery unit passed slowly.

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The day before the Summer Party, Yoko Hachiman rode through the mountains surrounding Nocis with her bicycle. The dreams have increased in intensity and details. She now remembered that it was war she saw: Giants walking in the streets of Bostonia and laying death with fire and machine-gun, infantry charging desperately to be only blast away by angry red light beams, but the worst was the death of the Heim family under the rubble of Bostonia castle.

She needed to find her internal harmony again, so she spent the day and much of the night practicing her katas until she forgot her tired body and felt her spirit expanding and then she saw a vision: Bursting from a cocoon and surrounded by dark butterflies, a silver katana gleamed among the stars and seemed to cut away the rotted parts of some stars. Many of the stars bore a striking resemblance to the symbols of the five great houses and Comstar. After that, the katana seemed to face off against spirit-animals shaped as a cat, a wolf, a shark, a monkey, some birds of prey, a bear, a horse, a feline and some snakes. After the confrontation, the katana clashed with a black broadsword and exploded into light. When the light diminished, the katana was revealed floating over Terra with a black eight-pointed star etched on the guard, it then pointed in guard against a darkness obscuring the stars and shaped like giants claws and maws.

Yoko blinked from her position on the green grass as the morning sun awoke her with its glorious light and she felt much better. She was now 'sure' that something will happen in the near future, but she was determined to face it with strength and courage. Fate was a powerful foe, but only she, herself could shape her own destiny. She smiled as she understood why she felt so close to Kihel and Sochie: It was because they were like her. They were women determined to take their own futures into their own hands, no matter was the personal cost.

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Kihel stopped her horse as she finished her morning tour of the Heim lands. She knew that Yoko had taken the day before for a little trip. So what in the name of the Omniss was she doing here in the water near the river bank and… WHY WAS SHE NUDE?

The heiress of the Heim family watched fascinated as the Japanese girl danced a deadly dance in the shallow water with her eyes closed. She was holding her katana and wakizachi and nothing else as she gracefully whirled around in a pattern known as the Water-Wheel by the students of the Niten Ryu. Drops of water stirred by her movements shone under the sunrays and artistically festooned her skin. Kihel swallowed as she saw the steel-like muscles tensing under the smooth skin: Yoko was the vivid image of a warrior-goddess.

In a final flourish, Yoko finished her kata. "Good morning kihel."

The blonde girl blushed. "Ah… Huh… Good…good morning Yoko…" She dismounted, feeling troubled by what she had witnessed and what she was feeling now. "How did you know it was me?"

Yoko reverently dried and sheathed her Daisho before taking her towel near her clothes on the river bank. "For now a few months, my 'gut feelings' have become a veritable sixth sense." She shrugged. "I can't really explain, but more and more I have some lightning intuitions where I 'KNOW'."

Kihel frowned and seemed to think about it. "Is that why you are reading all those books on psychic powers?"

Yoko stopped putting on her underwear and looked to the blue-eyed teenager. "You noticed that…? Yes, it seemed…prudent to have a base from which you can say at least "I don't know.""

Kihel raised an eyebrow. "And what do you think of it?"

Yoko slowly finished putting on her bicycle clothes, one of the few precious mementos she had from her home-universe. "I'm…scarred…" Kihel blinked at that revelation. She had always acknowledged the black-haired girl as one of the most courageous people she knew. "I don't like what I am seeing, what I am sensing… I fear for the future… I fear for me… For you…" She gazed into the blue sky. "There's a storm coming… I have the choice to let her sweep me away or…"

Kihel waited an instant then prodded her friend. "Or…?"

The lips of the Japanese pressed into a thin line. "Or surfing its crest and launching myself at the conquest of all the storms following, each more powerful than the last."

Kihel blinked. "I can't decide for you, Yoko." She shook her head. "Omniss, I can't even advise you. The only question I have is…" She gazed into the obsidian eyes. "…What is your heart telling you?"

Yoko smiled to the young girl. "Thanks Kihel."

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The Militia parade was truly a magnificent spectacle. Yoko was reminded of the Russian parades when the U.S.S.R. was still a great power.

Military blimps passed in the sky, some having signs that praised the Militia. People were massing around the main street and admiring and applauding to their soldiers.

Yoko, considered as a part of the Heim family, was sitting on the main podium alongside the nobility of the planet. Delegates from the other kingdoms were also present. She felt a little overdressed in such an assembly. Rather than clothing her like her daughters in western dresses with a lot of frilly things and petticoats, Alea Heim had chosen to honor her origin and the Japanese was clad in a silk black silver-trimmed kimono with the Mon 'Warrior' and her Daisho proudly displayed. Even her hair was now combed into a bun with two long hairpins.

She smiled as the soldiers passed and saluted the elderly Emperor and his heir. She had almost laughed the first time she saw their dress uniforms: They looked like English soldiers of her Earth with only their cowboy-like hats being the main difference. She didn't think that their red shirts were very good camouflage. Only the officers wore dark-blue colored shirts.

Alea frowned as she looked on the parade and turned to her husband. "I'm worried. Sir Ralf is pushing the recruiting to almost war levels. Is there any rumors about another conflict between Kaze and Borjarnon?"

The Mayor of Nocis shrugged. "I only heard that it was to prevent such a thing. After all, if you want peace, prepare for war."

Kihel turned to her sister who was tranquilly munching a sweet. "Do you really want to join Militia?"

Sochie nodded. "Just like you don't want to pursue your education but directly entered into society." She blinked as her sister plucked out the sweet of her hand.

"Yes, I know. Not a good behavior, right?" She began to eat the treat.

Yoko reached into her sleeves and gave another sweet to Sochie before bringing one out for her. "Not our fault if they don't know how to treat ambitious and head-strong women."

Alea sighed and rolled up her eyes. "What have I done to merit that, Omnis?"

Her husband chuckled. "Well, it just means that we don't have to make plans for them." He smirked. "I, for one, will enjoy the vacation."

Alea shook her head. "I can only imagine what the gossip will be tonight at the Summer party."

At that moment, a squadron of "Ugly Ducks" passed over the podium. Sochie stood up and waved. "Eileen is on one of them!"

Yoko admired the formation. Eileen and she had properly drilled the young pilots for the parade. All in all, she thought that the Militia had a firepower equivalent to a small army before World War II. Her eyes narrowed: It was still less than the might of a Battlemech.

Near the Emperor, Sir Ralf smiled. Everything was going according to his plans.

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The Summer party was as extravagant as any parties Yoko had assisted since her arrival. In the gardens of the castle, various cliques gathered around important persons to gather favors or simply praised the noble in their middle. Boot-licking was what Yoko thought of that. In one corner, she could see the densest knot being near Sir Ralf. However she was in awe of Kihel who was mingling with grace like a mighty Orca near sharks.

Kihel was seventeen like her and not yet of age, but she was the Heim heiress and she was already holding her rank like a professional. Yoko smirked. And fending away suitors like annoying flies. The Heim family was mainly land owners, but they wisely choose to widen and diversify their interests into almost anything on the planet. That enabled them to be at the edge of everything happening on Butterfly and having a very well-connected net of relations and acquaintances.

Speaking of unwanted suitors. She frowned as she advised the party of young men walking almost casually in the direction of Sochie. The poor girl was sitting alone on a chair with a glass of punch and was clearly bored to tears. Her eyes narrowed as she noticed that the orchestra was changing its performance to a waltz.

_'To hell with conventions! A party is made to have fun!_' She took out her hairpins, letting her long black mane of hair flowing along her back in an ebony cascade and resolutely walked to Sochie, cutting the path of the young men. The brown-haired girl blinked as Yoko held her hand. "Would you make me the honor of this dance, Sochie?"

Sochie blinked again as she gazed into the depth of the black eyes. Her own hand seemed to rise on its own and she found herself leaded into the dance. She examined her friend: With her long black hair like that, the kimono and her Daisho, she looked like a bishonen warrior. And since Yoko was leading her into the waltz, they must look like a young couple dancing. She had a wry smile. "We are going to make everyone gossip."

"Let them. We are supposed to have fun in this party. Well, we will have fun."

Sochie smirked. "Everyone will be happy or be beheaded on order of Daimyo Yoko."

Yoko smiled. "Exactly."

Kihel masked her smile with her fan as she witnessed the scene and heard the shocked whispers around her. Having two girls dancing was not that scandalous, especially friends or siblings, but Sochie and Yoko were smiling and laughing and the masculine cut of Yoko's dress was making them standing out among the nobles. Of course, that didn't take into account the jealousy of their suitors.

She gasped in surprise as the next waltz found her suddenly caught into the powerful arms of Yoko. At the same time Sochie grasped and forced her father onto the dance floor. As she fell into rhythm, she looked around the shoulder of the Japanese. "My, we are quite the spectacle, aren't we?"

Yoko shrugged and smiled to her friend. "So what? Not my fault those stuffed peacocks can't have a little fun." She glanced around. "Beside, I think we have primed the pump, so to speak."

The blue-eyed blonde nodded as more couples poured on the dance floor and laughs became louder and easier. And they danced and danced, changing partner as the orchestra changed music. Yoko danced with Mister Heim, Alea Heim and a few young men who took their chance also. However, she particularly appreciated the fact that several girls tried it and danced with her.

She blinked as two masculine arms grabbed her and leaded her in the valse. A white smile with blue eyes and short blond hair with tanned skin: Sir Karl Ralf was dancing with her. She had to call almost all of her willpower to suppress the shudder of revulsion at his contact: She really disliked this man.

"I was hoping to speak to you this evening."

Yoko merely raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

Karl nodded and used his famous playboy smile on the beautiful Japanese. "I heard that you have the intention to enter the Militia as a pilot. I wonder if you would be interested in working in Castle Bostonia?"

Yoko blinked. "You want me to work for you? Why?" _'Arrogant prick! You think every woman would just fall into your arms, don't you?_' She wasn't sure why, but she really didn't like this sudden interest in her.

"I think your talents are wasted in the Militia. I have only heard praises about your technician skills and I would like you to work with Marc Shido."

Now that was surprising. "Mister Shido? The mining engineer?"

Ralf smiled sure that she had swallowed his bait. "Mining is only a convenient cover for his real work. In fact I am recruiting a team with as many skills that I can find. I have already approached the two Heim daughters with the same proposition."

_'What the hell is he hiding? Everything in me is screaming "BEWARE!".'_ "So did Kihel and Sochie accept your proposition?"

Yes, he had her with hook, line and sinker. "Lady Kihel was very interested and said she would like to know a little more before taking a decision. Lady Sochie preferred to wait for your answer before taking a decision. So, will you think about working with Shido?"

Yoko plastered a fake smile and bowed as the music ended. "I will. Thank you for the dance."

Yoko went to take another glass of punch and was accosted by Sochie. "So, did Sir Ralf ask you if you wanted to work for Mister Shido?"

Yoko narrowed her eyes as she took a sip. _'Yerk! Too much alcohol!'_ "Yes, he did."

Sochie raised an eyebrow at the face of her friend. "So? Are you going to accept?"

Yoko turned fully her attention to Sochie. "I really don't like what I feel about this sudden proposition. I think I'm going to follow the example of Kihel and wait until I know more."

Sochie blinked. "That's exactly what Sister told to me." She leaned to whisper into the Japanese's ear. "Beside I think she's going to try to pry a little later."

Yoko smirked. "Well, we'll just have to stand ready to help her, won't we?"

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As time passed, the party moved inside the castle and the mood shifted to the more formal aspect of the high nobility.

Sir Ralf was dancing again with Kihel. "You said that you were interested in my proposition."

Kihel smiled. "As my sister and friend are."

Sir Ralf smirked. "Well, if you insist, I think I could show you a little more, later."

During a pause, the advisor of the Emperor guided the three girls into another wing of the castle and opened a large door.

Yoko blinked at the mass of sophisticated equipment inside the room. People were leaning on various consoles, consulting old-looking manuals and seemed to report their finding to a man near a transparent blackboard. Her eyes widened as she recognized it for a situation panel like those used by military on Earth to note the emplacement of friendly and enemy units.

She glanced to her friends and felt their mutual surprise. The consoles were also very interesting. She knew, from having visiting it, that the spaceport of Bostonia had only minimal radar and guiding facility. And here she could see radar displays, radio booth and…COMPUTERS!

Computers were both rare and old on Butterfly. Almost no one had the knowledge to make new ones, only maintaining the old ones.

Kihel circulated among the people. "Wireless communications and radars?"

Sir Ralf nodded. "That's right." He turned to a technician. "What is the situation?"

The man paused in his listening of the radio-waves. "No more communications since their last. The dropship is still ignoring our messages."

Sochie gasped. "A dropship? Here? In orbit?"

Sir Ralf looked to the transparent board that showed a map of the stellar system and pondered on a symbol on the ecliptic. "Yes. A jumpship was detected when it jumped into this system. Because of the dense asteroid belt outside our orbit, jumpships must materialize very far away and dropships take time to traverse the distance. This is why I was able to reinforce the Militia."

Yoko's eyes narrowed. "This is not a merchant ship, right?"

Karl sighed. "No, it's not. They're pirates, raiders. Their initial message asked for practically all our reserves in black tech, including our best technicians. On the behalf of the Emperor, I am negotiating with them."

Kihel nodded. "That's why you need our skills. Should the negotiations worked or not, you can cover all bases."

"Contact radar!"

The tense scream of a technician drew the attention of everybody. "Three contacts in upper atmosphere! On a direct course to the spaceport!"

Karl turned to a radio operator. "Alert the Militia! Are they still in standby?"

The radio nodded. "Yes, all troops are on patrol and reporting ready."

Yoko frowned as she witnessed the people under the guidance of Karl Ralf reacting to the apparition of a dropship. _'It is too rapid, too prepared in advance.'_ Her gaze locked on Karl. _'He knew! He knew they were coming and why!'_ She pressed her lips in a thin line. _'Why is he doing all this?'_

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On the Nocis airport, the scramble alert sounded. Eileen Kaplan ran out the hangar to a nearby "Ugly Duck". "I can't believe it! An alert! A real alert and less than half my students know how to properly handle the new fighters!"

Her father Ernest ran after her. "Hey! You're not officially part of the Militia!"

Eileen swore as she continued to run. "You really think I'm going to let them fly alone! None of them know how to pilot during the night!"

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Near the mountain range nearby Nocis, a small old man with grey heir and glasses looked into the direction of the capital as beams of light were pointed into the sky. To his side was a young tall man with red hair, blue eyes and tanned skin. Both were equipped like miners.

The young man turned to the old man. "What do you think of this, Mister Shido? They're even planes flying in the sky. I didn't know that the Militia parade was supposed to continue in the night."

The old man shrugged. "Not all human behavior is logical. Personally I don't care. Our investigation is too important to be swayed by such futilities.

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At the castle, a dull boom was heard. Sochie leaned at the balcony of the room with Sir Ralf equipment. "What's that sound?"

Yoko gazed into the night-sky searching for something. "Atmospheric shockwave." She pointed her finger. "There!"

Lights began to illuminate the clouds above the capital. Then suddenly tracer rounds erupted from the many anti-aircraft turrets near the spaceport and searchlights waved around.

In the air, fighter planes opened fire on the black approaching silhouettes. The "Ugly Ducks" were armed with a pair of 20 mm machine-guns and an auto-canon of class 10. They were however no match for the pair of aerospace fighters "CSR-V12 Corsair" that simply wasted them with their Large Lasers.

Aboard the leader fighters, a young woman with short black hair and brown eyes shook her head. "What's the fuck are they thinking? Are these fellows serious?" She opened a channel to her wingman. "Reijick! Pursue per orders to the spaceport. Neutralize those damn turrets. I will circle to cover you."

A face unshaved with wild black hair and eyes answered her behind the helmet of his pressure suit. "What about those Militia planes? They were not supposed to attack."

The woman frowned. "You let me worried about the Militia and concentrate on your objectives or I will have what Hans has left of your ass!"

The man gulped. "Okay! Okay! Sorry!"

The woman focused on an approaching squadron of old biplanes and narrowed her eyes. "How barbaric are they!" She selectionned her Large Lasers and open fire. The simple planes of wood and cloth simply disintegrated under the power of the lasers. But the beam reached much farther away than the squadron and an angry finger of red light raked into Bostonia, provoking fires among the houses and destroying a train.

Yoko had seized her friends and covered their bodies with her own as soon as the Corsair opened fire. The three girls looked astonished as the fires of war began to ravage the capital.

Sochie staggered as the fires illuminated her terrorized face. "Omniss! What's happening?! What is going on?!"

Yoko helped Kihel on her legs and looked into the night. "Raiders! And here is the dropship!" She pointed on a silvery sphere of 80 meters beginning its approach of the spaceport on four columns of plasma fire. A sudden premonition of doom seized her. "It's going to fire! GET DOWN!"

This time, Yoko literally flung down her friends before covering them with her body as the apocalypse was unleashed on Bostonia. The Union class dropship opened fire with its entire arsenal: beams of particles, lasers, Long Range Missiles and auto-canons shells rained on the city and the scream of the dying and the sound of destruction flooded into the senses of the displaced Japanese. _'This is not a dream!'_

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Notes: Well, a company of pirates is attacking Butterfly. At last, Battlemechs are going to ravage, destroy, obliterate,…

Hum… Sorry, I was letting my enthusiasm controlling me.

But that's right a full company of battlemechs is invading Butterfly.

What are the plans of Sir Ralf?

What is the mysterious Mister Shido searching for?

How will three young girls be able to help those they love?

What is the secret ingredient of cola…?

Huh…?

Hum… Well, read and review, thanks.


End file.
